


Apologies are for People Who Can't Read Your Thoughts on Their Arm

by Eastern_Eden



Series: Why fight when we could be friends instead [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Battle City Arc, M/M, Throw in Malik and shadow games and you've got a party, and boy is he unhappy about it, boys being dumb, seto has feelings, some more angst, what did you expect really its Seto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 02:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19454155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastern_Eden/pseuds/Eastern_Eden
Summary: Seto would apologize, but how could he be expected to remember to with all this Magic nonsense?! And if people would stop getting injured during his tournament, that would be just great.-Various Snippets from different Battle City duels, all within my Soulmate AU.





	1. [Jonouchi Katsuya VS. Malik (Rishid) Ishtar]

**Author's Note:**

> This was up on my tumblr so I figured I'd move it on over here! This one is contains some shorter scenes.

Not for the first time, Seto wished that he had the power to skip all of the dumb, unimportant parts of his life and cut directly to the significant bits.

Was it too much to ask to want to get this show on the road? They’d had one duel, _one fucking duel_ , and already there was occult nonsense in his tournament finals. That white-haired kid, Bakura Ryou, who by all rights shouldn’t even _be_ here, was already on his way to the infirmary after that dramatic little show of a duel against Mutou, and his little friends were still twittering about that creepy necklace that he’d left behind.

Of course. Another one of those “Millennium Items.”

Joy.

It was almost time for the next duel: Jonouchi Katsuya vs. Ishtar Malik, leader of the Rare Hunters.

On second thought, maybe he _should_ be slowing this down.

There was no question that this was dangerous; Ishizu had warned Seto of this from the very start. He’d had contingency plans and failsafes in place to try and regulate the tournament, but like everything involving Mutou’s special brand of chaos, nothing went according to plan. He’d even had to switch up his projected rooming assignments to accommodate the extra unplanned “guests.” Seto _hated_ changing plans.

Of course, there was still _one_ projected room that had stayed in all of the chaos. Jonouchi’s room was still next to his and across from Mokuba’s.

For perfectly logical safety reasons.

Speaking of his loud-mouthed soulmate, he was _supposed_ to come by Seto’s room before the duel, so Seto could give him a piece of his mind, like how not to get killed and questioning exactly how the moron had gotten into the tournament.

And maybe to apologize for that. Maybe.

Fuck it, he probably should. Seto wasn’t really in the habit of lying to himself, and he was willing to admit that he at least _minimally_ enjoyed Jonouchi’s company, even if he was one of Mutou’s little groupies. He’d actually missed his blathering during the tournament, and Seto wasn’t keen on losing it again. Seto always got what he wanted, and if that meant tossing some inconsequential apologies around, he’d do it.

A knock sounded on the heavy metal door, resounding with a hollow ring through the room.

…Nobody said he had to do it _right away._

_“_ Its open, dumbass,” Seto called out.

The door slid open with a gentle hiss to reveal Jonouchi’s unimpressed face. He folded his arms, shook his head to try and get the too-long blond fringe out of his eyes, and advanced into the room. The door rolled shut soundlessly behind him. He looked around, taking in Seto’s room, which was definitely noticeably nicer than the other competitors rooms. Jonouchi snorted with thinly disguised amusement.

“‘Course you’d give yourself the best digs,” he muttered, though where before it would have been resentful, Seto could detect a faint fondness in his tone.

Not unwelcome, but _weird._ It made the color rise high on Seto’s cheeks, and he forced himself not to tense. It wouldn’t do to look like an idiot in front of the idiot.

When Seto didn’t comment, Jonouchi sighed and let his arms drop to his sides, relaxing almost imperceptibly. “Look, Seto,” he began.

Seto jolted at the use of his first name. Were they on a first name basis yet? “I wasn’t aware I gave you permission to call me that,” Seto said pointedly.

“I figured that once a guy saves your life, thats enough to warrant a first name, don’t you?” Jonouchi said, rolling his eyes.

Hmm. Might as well try it out.

“Alright, I suppose thats fair, _Katsuya_ ,” Seto replied.

Now it was Jonouchi who looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Seriously dude? Only my sister and my mom call me that.” A slight flush creeped up his neck. Was he actually _embarrassed?_

It was kind of surprising, actually. None of his friends called him by his first name? Well, that just meant that Seto was special, didn’t it. Yet another way for him to get one up on his rival.

Take that, Mutou.

“If you don’t like it, mutt, you should have thought of that before you called me by mine,” Seto said.

“…I didn’t say you couldn’t call me that,” Jonouchi….no, _Katsuya_ , Seto mentally corrected, murmured.

Wasn’t that interesting.

Katsuya flapped his arms, looking a bit like a distressed hen. “Anyway,” he hurried, “That’s not th’ point! What I was _going_ to say was that I don’t care what you say, I’m going to duel Malik. Thats the guy who brainwashed me and almost killed Yuugi!” His brown eyes shone with determination. “I’m gonna teach that creep a few lessons.”

Seto stared at him for a few seconds, then broke eye contact, folding his arms. “Thats what I was afraid you’d say,” He muttered without thinking, mouth screwing up in a tense frown.

“Hah!”

What?

Seto turned back to face him, alarmed.

“You _were_ worried,” Katsuya crowed, fist pumping, “I _knew it!_ You’re _worried_ about me!” He grinned, all earlier solemness from his demeanor gone, and all Seto wanted to do was cover his face and scream into a pillow for a few hours.

“…am not.” Seto said.

“Are too,” Katsuya shot back, his smile lighting up his face. His earlier, closed off attitude had completely vanished, replaced by a looseness that seemed to imbue Katsuya’s limbs with a new, confidant energy. Just being in the same room as him made Seto feel lighter, like his head was full of helium. He absently rubbed at the collar of his turtleneck, aching to see the words that he could feel being written in lazy pulses around his neck.

Katsuya was almost handsome like this.

Almost.

Seto cleared his throat, and made a last ditch attempt to change the subject and save face before the hyperactive idiot looked down at his wrist and read _that_ damning thought. “Actually,” he said, in a tone that oozed as much derision as he could muster, “I wanted to cash in my favor that you owe me.”

Katsuya’s grin mellowed into something contemplative. He gestured for Seto to continue.

“I want you to draw out Malik’s God Card.”

Katsuya’s face scrunched up unattractively with annoyance. “Ya still don’t think I’m gonna win, Rich Boy?”

Seto ignored him, his pent up thoughts running away from him and spilling from his mouth like an unstoppable torrent of murky floodwater. “Mokuba has been trying to research this card, but we still don’t know what the Winged God Dragon of Ra’s abilities are.” He huffed in frustration, starting to pace, his boots clicking against the metal floor of the airship every time he stepped off the carpet. “We’re flying blind, so to speak. I don’t understand,” Seto continued, now almost talking to himself as Katsuya watched with growing confusion. “Its dangerous, not knowing what’s going on. How do we know it’s not going to hurt someone? It’s not supposed to be able to touch anybody, but with the way things are going, _hell,_ who knows? _How_ do these God Cards get played on a system that _nobody programmed them into?!_ Its ludicrous! Its _impossible-”_

He froze as a hand snagged his wrist, halting Seto in his quest to slowly wear a hole through his nice plush carpet.

_“_ Its magic, Seto,” Katsuya said, voice soft. “Its in th’ cards.”

Seto ripped his arm out of Katsuya’s grip like a wounded animal, startled and skittish as a rabbit. Katsuya raised his hands palms out, a gesture that would have been ridiculous but for some reason was reassuring in a way that made Seto’s stomach turn. He felt comforted by this…this _moron?_

He felt sick.

“It is _not!_ ” Seto hissed back, and Katsuya shrugged and held out his wrist.

**_…magic, what if it_ is _magic_ _fuck oh god magic…_**

****“Would you _stop that!”_ Seto snarled, embarrassed beyond words and reason. “God, fuck you, Jonouchi! Why even bother talking to me if you can see what I’m thinking? You can see inside my head and I _hate it!_ Why am I the one stuck guessing whats going on in your _tiny little brain_ while you get to take one look at your fucking arm and know all my deepest thoughts? I can’t _stand_ it!”

Katsuya reeled back in alarm as Seto turned away, hunching in on himself. Fuck this, he was done. He needed to be alone. To wait until the buzzing anger in his head settled and he could look his soulmate in the eyes again without feeling shame down to his very core.

Seto’s hands shook.

“…go prepare for your duel, Jonouchi. You don’t owe me anything.”

The room was silent. Any moment now, Seto would hear the hiss of the door opening and closing, taking Katsuya out and away from here, _anywhere_ but here, to injury or death at the hands of a crazy gang leader who had made it into the final rounds of his tournament. Seto just wanted to sulk in peace and rebuild his walls. He felt raw, like nails on a chalkboard. All he did was chase people away, in the end. Fuck, he couldn’t even deal with an idiot like Jonouchi as his soulmate. He must have thought that Seto had finally lost his mind. Seto’s thoughts whirled in the silence, consuming and destructive.

Why was it still so _quiet?_

The door hissed open, but Seto didn’t dare turn to look.

“Seto.”

He couldn’t _._

He _wouldn’t_.

Seto could hear Katsuya exhale shakily in the silence. “I’ll be careful, Seto,” he murmured.

Seto wanted to say a million things, an apology, a reassurance, fuck _anything_ , but his tongue was bloated and heavy, and the words were like molasses filling his throat, so sweet that it made him sick. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t say a word, so Seto hunched his shoulders a little lower, defeated and tired.

The door hissed shut, and Katsuya was gone.

* * *

Seto rarely regretted anything he chose to do, so it came as a surprise that he actually felt _bad_ about not apologizing to Jonouchi Katsuya while he had the chance.

He stood at the edge of the dueling arena, face impassive as the wind whipped his hair into his face, leaving behind little stinging pinpricks across his cold cheeks. He was standing a little ways off from Mutou and his crew, not wanting to be part of their little fan club, but at the same time Seto couldn’t bring himself _not_ to silently cheer for Katsuya. Especially after his little mental breakdown in his room just an hour earlier.

Seto cringed just thinking about that.

Mokuba was safely out of the way, running tests in the control center of the airship, despite the boy’s vigorous protests. No way was he taking any chances with the safety of his precious little brother.

His eyes flicked back to the life point counter, which read **[Jonouchi K: 50]** , and his frown tightened imperceptibly. If only he could do the same with Katsuya that he had with Mokuba, but that was no longer an option.

Jonouchi was losing.

To be honest, Seto had no fucking clue what to do. This Malik character didn’t seem like the crazy lunatic who could brainwash people, but the situation seemed bleak nonetheless. Seto knew Katsuya’s deck like the back of his hand; it was still full of those worthless gambling cards, no matter how many times Seto had helpfully suggested that Katsuya throw them out. Not to mention, he was up against the Winged God Dragon of Ra, supposedly the most powerful card in all of Duel Monsters. What on earth could Katsuya possibly do against that?

The depressing atmosphere was broken by murmurs from the peanut gallery. Katsuya’s younger sister, Kawai Shizuka, was shouting.

“Try your best!” She was yelling, tears glittering in her eyes like some sort of anime heroine, “For yourself, and your friends!”

Katsuya looked up in surprise, raising his head from his defeated slump he stared slack-jawed at his sister.

“I don’t want to see you give up,” she said, a bit quieter but still audible above the gentle whistling of the cold night air. Her breath was visible against the sky.

“Jonouchi you IDIOT!” Came a second voice, which after a beat Seto realized belonged to _Kujaku Mai_ of all people!

Seto eyed her with barely contained contempt. Did that two-bit duelist think she could flirt with someone else’s soulmate just willy-nilly? Sure, they weren't really talking right now, but Jonouchi was _basically_ _taken!_

Katsuya’s eyes flickered to Kujaku and the rest of his friends, and Seto just couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Jonouchi,” he said, definitely not yelling like an idiot because he was a CEO _goddamnit_ , “is _this_ the kind of duelist you are?”

Katsuya’s head, along with everyone else’s which was just _great_ , snapped up and he gawked at Seto, almost dropping his cards. The idiot probably wasn’t even aware that Seto had come up to watch his duel. Even Malik examined him with an assessing stare, and Seto crossed his arms reflexively with a self-conscious scowl. He straightened his back, almost daring anyone to make a comment. He had his reasons, he didn’t have to explain himself to Mutou, his friends, or anybody else!

Plus, Katsuya was looking at _him_ now.

Take that.

Jonouchi cleared his throat, obviously flustered. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a deeper, smoother voice.

“Can I ask you a question, Jonouchi,” Malik murmured, barely audible, capturing everyone’s attention instantly. Even Seto found himself leaning forward to hear the massive Egyptian man a bit more clearly. “Why did you enter this tournament?”

Katsuya took a deep breath, and met Malik’s inquiring gaze with a steel that sent a shiver up Seto’s spine. Though it might have just been a particularly cold gust of wind.

“There is someone I can’t lose to,” he began, glancing meaningfully over at Mutou Yuugi before continuing. “I haven’t lost yet,” Katsuya said, volume rising as he seemed to come alive with the frigid whipping through his hair. “And there are people I wouldn’t be able to face if I gave up right now.” He turned and met Seto’s surprised gaze.

Seto looked back with wide eyes, the nasty expression for once wiped clean off his face. Katsuya was talking about _him_. Seto’s face felt warm, and he hurried to school his expression once again. He acknowledged Katsuya with more confidence than he thought he had and gave him a firm nod of recognition.

God, he _really_ needed to apologize to Katsuya.

Katsuya grinned, feral and fiercely beautiful against the backdrop of the sky, and Seto knew in a moment of clarity without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to be alright.

“Jonouchi!” Came the voice of the “other” Yuugi, as Katsuya had once called him, already giving obscure and ridiculous advice to his friend. Seto listened in, totally lost and almost completely resigned about that unfortunate fact.

Knowing his rival, it would be exactly the move that would allow Jonouchi to come out on top, despite the odds. Seto himself still couldn’t see any way out of this mess, and there was still Ra to worry about, but suddenly none of that mattered one bit.

So Seto, renewed lightness in his heart, sat back to watch his soulmate win.


	2. [ Kujaku Mai VS Malik Ishtar ]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to go a bit sour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting the second snippet as well! I might write one more scene from this duel, but I'm unsure right now!

Katsuya cursed under his breath, already dreading what the _real_ Malik was about to say to Mai and watching the stormy expression on Yuugi’s face develop with a mounting sense of horror. Any time Yuugi was _that_ serious someone was bound to end up cursed with freaky Ancient Egyptian magic or worse. He still had the hole in his well-worn Air Muscles as a grim reminder.

He’d witnessed enough games of darkness to know that this duel was one of them, and it wasn’t going to end pretty.

Not only that, but Seto was nowhere to be seen! Katsuya scowled. What he wouldn’t give to talk it out with his grumpy soulmate for a good hour or so; the guy had put Katsuya through the wringer for the past couple days. He’d just gotten used to the idea that Kaiba wanted nothing to do with him when the asshole had cheered him on in his duel. Sure, Katsuya had made up his mind to fight for the guy, and he knew _now_ that Kaiba actually cared what happened to him, but seeing him actually try and cheer him on had taken Katsuya completely and utterly by surprise.

Katsuya hadn’t even known that he was _there._

Katsuya had almost wanted to stride over to Seto like a brave hero returning from war and tell him everything was going to be fine, but the bastard had vanished after Katsuya’s little trip to dream world when he and the fake Malik had gotten struck by Ancient Egyptian holographic lightning.

However _that_ worked.

Plus, Seto would punch his lights out if he ever caught Katsuya thinking about him as his damsel in distress. The idea was one that made Katsuya’s face burn, and he quickly put it out of his mind. This was not the time for ill-advised fantasies.

This was a life or death duel.

Katsuya’s fingers clenched around the railings as Malik activated another trap card that looked as though it caused Mai physical pain. Why did it feel like things were only getting worse these days?

It seemed like lately he had a particular talent for pissing people off. Katsuya shook his head in frustration. First it was Seto, and now he had gone and alienated Mai. _Why_ had he said that she hadn’t been among his friends in that stupid dream and hurt her feelings? Anzu had reamed him out hard for that, and Katsuya wanted to apologize, but Mai wouldn’t even look at him right now. The proud woman was convinced that she had to go it alone again, and damn it, wasn’t that just _great._ Just when things were getting dangerous, which, damn it _again_ , was _exactly_ what Seto was warning him about in the first place.

Where _was_ Seto anyway? Didn’t he care about how this duel was turning out? Katsuya found his gaze slipping down to his left arm again, feeling the urge to check the itch of Seto’s soul words, but he kept his hands locked around the freezing metal pipe and felt the warmth seep out through his fingertips. Just remembering the anguished look on Seto’s face as he told Katsuya to leave him alone made him not want to look at those words if it would stop that expression from ever crossing Seto’s sharp features ever again. Katsuya never wanted to be the reason for that emptiness that looked so wrong on Seto’s proud face ever again.

Honda prodded him in the ribs with a sharp elbow. “What’s with that sappy expression on your face, Jonouchi? Focus on the duel,” He said into Katsuya’s ear. Anzu glared at the two of them before returning to watch Mai with a worried expression.

The duel was heating up.

With Visor Death on the field and latched on to Mai’s Amazoness Chain Master, Yuugi’s efforts to break Mai out of the darkness cloaking the duel arena were not getting through to her. Katsuya stared at her hard, but the fear on her face seemed to have no clear reasoning.

…at least, not until Malik ordered the first move, Visor Death tightening around the head of Amazoness Chain Master, and Mai began to scream, a horrible, bloodcurdling sound that pierced the air like a jagged knife.

What was…..

No.

No no no! Was Mai….feeling the effect of Visor Death, on her _own head?!_

 _“_ Don’t give up, Mai!” Katsuya yelled, adding his voice to the chorus of encouragements shouted by the rest of his friends as Malik laughed like an evil villain in a Jean-Claude Magnum movie.

Out of the corner of his eye, Katsuya noticed a harsh, golden light, and turned to face the other Yuugi, forehead ablaze with that magical eye symbol and murder written in the harsh lines of a face that looked much older than that of his small best friend.

“MALIK!” The furious boy roared, “Stop this game right now!”

“Oh Yuugi, _nobody_ can stop this game of darkness,” Malik chuckled, “The moment I win spells her death.”

“You…” Yuugi spat in unbridled rage, but Malik cut him off with a patronizing grin.

“Great, great….yes Yuugi, get angry. When it is time for _our_ Millennium duel, I’ll let you see the anger that has built up within me for all these miserable years!”

The little guy looked just about ready to hop on up there and take Malik apart with his bare hands if Katsuya and Honda hadn’t held him back gently. Katsuya was seconds away from climbing up there himself and decking the fucker, but even _he_ knew not to interfere with whatever magic punishment game was going on here. No, Mai had to get out of this one herself until they could find a way to fix this.

No matter how hard it was to watch.

“Yuugi…” came Mai’s quiet voice, her belabored breathing strangely loud above the wind. The other Yuugi’s crimson stare snapped back to Mai as she struggled to her feet once more. “This is my battle,” she forced out, and her gaze hardened behind her tears. “I am a Duelist,” she proclaimed, “And I will fight this guy until the very end!”

If Seto was here, he’d surely call her a moron, but Katsuya felt a spike of adrenaline at her words. _This_ was the Kujaku Mai that he’d come to respect as both a duelist and a friend. Of course she wouldn’t, _couldn’t_ throw in the towel so easily. Even now, she was fighting. A slight smile fought its way onto his face.

It wasn’t over yet!

* * *

When Seto stepped onto the top deck to the airship, Mokuba on his heels like an excited puppy who _clearly_ didn’t realize the dangers of coming along, the first thing he noticed was Kujaku Mai standing tall and proud, God card in one hand and at the ready to attack the calm sadistic criminal across from her.

The second thing he noticed was Katsuya jumping up and down like an idiot.

“Hey, hey Seto Nii-sama!” Mokuba prodded, tugging on the hem of Seto’s signature coat. Seto swatted at him and the kid dodged back, grinning way too happily for the intense scene that they’d walked into. “So Mai got the God card! It’s going to be hard to guess who’s going to be victorious, right?”

Seto’s eyes narrowed, thinking back on what Malik had said about only those who possessed millennium items being able to control a God. If that was true, then Kujaku would have a much harder time winning this than the peanut gallery thought. “Hn. We’ll see,” he offered, and Mokuba side-eyed him, obviously sensing that Seto had other things on his mind than just the duel for once.

Brat.

Seto grabbed Mokuba’s arm, because if he was going to watch this train wreck of a duel he was going to _stay near him dammit_ , and made his way over to where Katsuya and the rest of Mutou’s little crew were standing. Kawai Shizuka was noticeably absent, Seto noted with approval, which was no doubt her older brother’s doing. If only his own precocious sibling wasn’t a genius pain in the ass, he’d be a lot easier to deal with.

The whole group turned as one to gawk in confusion as Seto took his place next to Katsuya, resolutely not making eye contact and watching the dueling field as if his life depended on it. Mokuba shoved his hands in his pockets and stuck out his tongue at Honda and Mazaki when they opened their mouths to ask what they were doing over here.

“It was Nii-sama’s idea, I’m just along for the ride,” the kid grumbled, simultaneously sounding like the petulant eleven year-old he was and throwing Seto completely under the bus.

At that even Yuugi raised an eyebrow. Great. Way to go on the subtle entrance.

A light tug on his coat finally made Seto turn, only to be met with Katsuya’s annoyed frown. “Where have you even been?” He said, loud enough for Mazaki to cough in an attempt to hide her disbelief.

Honda, on the other hand, had no qualms interjecting his extremely irrelevant opinion.

“Yeah, Kaiba, where have you been? You let an _evil madman_ into your tournament, and then don’t even stay for half the duels to make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy!”

Okay, first of all, he’d hired _security_ for that purpose-

“And you didn’t even stand around to make sure that Jonouchi was okay after being struck by crazy lighting from _your_ dueling technology-”

“Honda!” Came the interruption from _Yuugi_ of all people. “Later. Focus on the duel for now.”

Cowed for the moment, the other boy turned back to watch Kujaku Mai activate another trap card, though he did shoot Seto a nasty glare.

That was totally uncalled for! Who did Honda _think_ had sent the medical team down immediately to check on Katsuya? Seto had then gone straight to the control room to check the power output levels on the projectors to make sure that the duel arena itself wasn’t going to fry anybody else. How was he supposed to know that Ishtar Malik was a legitimate, terrifying psychopath?

After a few more moments of awkward silence from the spectators and yelling from the field, Seto felt warm breath across his neck as Katsuya leaned against him and stood on his tiptoes to whisper furtively with honest confusion in his ear, “So why _didn’t_ ya stick around, Seto?”

Abruptly he took a scandalized step away, almost running over Mokuba in the process.

“I needed to check the database for information on Ra,” Seto responded haughtily. Katsuya gave him an unimpressed stare. After a few moments debate with himself, Seto reluctantly added, “And to check with my medical staff that we were equipped to deal with injury, just in case you didn’t get up.”

Katsuya rocked back on his heels, contemplative but quietly pleased, and Seto didn’t know whether he wanted to punch him or do something softer and more gag-inducing.

Beside him, Mokuba mimed throwing up.

Another shout came from the field, and Seto was embarrassed that he’d almost lost focus on the duel.

 _Almost_. Seto _never_ lost track of a card game.

 _Ever_.

“…very clever,” Malik was saying, an unsettling grin stretching his face. “See if you can handle it!”

Ra was about to be summoned to the field. Kujaku’s mouth tightened, and she moved to play the card, either not picking up on Malik’s clumsy attempts at manipulation or simply not caring about them. All at once, Seto felt a horrible sense of apprehension. From the tension that radiated from Mutou’s shoulders, he wasn’t the only one who had felt the shift in the air.

As she clicked the card into place on her duel disk, a bright light shone above the field. Mokuba pressed forward, almost vibrating in anticipation. Seto felt the power in the air as he gazed up along with the rest of the peanut gallery and saw a…weird sphere?

“What is _that?”_ Katsuya said, “Is the God actually just a _ball?_ Its gotta do somethin’, right?”

“This is the true form of the Sun Dragon Ra,” Malik proclaimed, “but unfortunately a duelist of your level cannot fully control a _GOD_! No, the only duelist who can control it is the one it choses. Look at the card, and you’ll understand!”

Mai looked down, squinting at her duel disk, and her face grew apprehensive. “Its…its not written in Japanese…and there are symbols that weren’t there before…”

“Mokuba,” Seto said urgently, the boy in question whirling to face him, “Go to the control room and get the footage of that card!”

“Good idea, Nii-sama!” Mokuba cheered. With one last glance at the the playing field the boy slinked off towards the elevator. Seto watched him carefully, only turning back to the duel when he was sure that his brother had gotten safely to the elevators.

What the hell was on that card?

Katsuya prodded him in the side, and Seto released his breath in a sharp hiss between clenched teeth, trying his best not to flinch. “What?” He ground out. Couldn’t the moron see that it was an important moment?

“If it’s not in Japanese, what do you think it is?” Katsuya whispered, obviously remembering Mutou’s threat to focus on the duel and keeping his voice down.

Seto lifted a shoulder in a half-assed shrug. Who knew what was running through Pegasus Crawford’s mind when he created these cards. Seto had a hunch at what those symbols could be, but he really didn’t want everything to lead back to fucking _Ancient Egypt_.

“Those words,” Malik shouted, smug and condescending, “are written in Hieratic. I doubt _you_ could read them, let alone anyone that isn’t a keeper like myself.” At this, his manic purple eyes flicked over to Mutou, and Seto wanted to rub his temples to stave off the migraine coming from being _right all the time._

“That _bastard!”_ Katsuya was muttering beside him. “He _knew_ that Mai wouldn’t be able to read th’ card.”

An astute and probably correct observation. It was likely that Malik had been planning this from the very start. What a terrifying strategy. Kujaku really didn’t have much of a chance, not at her level. She was a formidable duelist, but nobody, sans himself and probably Mutou Yuugi really stood a chance against this guy. Abruptly Seto felt a wash of relief that Katsuya hadn’t dueled against the _real_ Malik. Who knows what would have happened to him.

Seto found himself leaning a little closer to his still fuming soulmate.

“I summon visor shock!” Came the cry from the field, and Seto grimaced. Now Kujaku was well and truly fucked. Her face down card, probably some feeble defense or trap, was rendered useless.

Malik cackled, looking absolutely maniacal as the Eye of Wadjet burned brightly from the center of his forehead like a creepy, fucked up headlamp. “No magic, traps, or monsters on the field to protect you…embrace the pain and enter the darkness! Visor shock! Directly attack Mai!”

Even Seto watched with something akin to horror as Mai began to scream again. He looked over to the door, where some of his security officers were standing by looking nervous, and gave them a nod. It was best to prepare the medical team for one more at this point, just in case. Seto had no idea what was happening to Kujaku Mai, but he’d be damned if it killed her in _his fucking tournament!_ He was only grateful that he’d sent Mokuba back down to the control room; that boy didn’t need to see _this_.

Hell, Seto wasn’t sure that _Katsuya_ could handle watching the rest of this duel. He was shaking like a leaf, and he almost looked like he was about to cry. He’d been yelling along with the rest of his friends throughout the duel, and Seto knew that he cared for the woman as much as any of his friends, though he wasn’t the happiest about that.

It became very clear very quickly that Malik could use the power of Ra without it even being summoned on his side of the field once he started spouting what Seto could only assume was spoken Hieratic. All at once the giant sphere (again, too big for even the airship’s high powered projectors) began to glow and uncurl.

“The god will become the servant of the one who chants the words,” Malik explained. “In this case, I’ll use the God’s power to _burn that woman to death._ ”

Well fuck.

Somehow, Seto didn’t doubt that that was something that Malik could do.

“If this is a real game of darkness, once Mai’s life points reach zero, she’ll die,” Mutou said quietly, his grip white knuckled against the cold metal railing. Katsuya paled. Mutou raised his voice to a hoarse shout. “Malik, stop this!” He cried. “It’s clear that you’ve won this duel! Theres no need to attack!”

The excited smirk that sliced across Malik’s face was as cold as liquid nitrogen. “Yuugi. Watch carefully as this woman is sacrificed to the darkness. I’ll bring out the anger buried deep within you!”

Well, it certainly looked like it was working, judging by the absolutely murderous expression creeping up on Mutou Yuugi’s cherubic features.

As Malik went on to explain his quite frankly crazy backstory to Mutou, probably having forgotten that there was anybody else there, Katsuya grabbed Seto’s shoulders. “Seto,” he said, desperate, “If we don’t do something, she’ll die.”

He was probably right. Seto didn't truly understand what was happening in this fucked up duel, but Mutou Yuugi was no liar.

Seto took a long look into Katsuya’s eyes, and made his decision.

He grabbed Katsuya by the arm. “Back this way,” Seto said, thinking fast. There were two stairways that led up on to each respective side of the dueling field, of course, but there was a third little elevator up to the center platform where a member of his security team was serving as the duel officiator. That would do nicely. As Seto dragged him along, the rest of Katsuya’s friends gave Seto an alarmed look, obviously suspecting something suspicious, but made no move to stop them. Mutou nodded at him, and Seto gripped Katsuya’s wrist tighter, yanking him in the direction of the elevator with no protest. 

The other side of the airship’s top deck was empty, as expected. The wind sliced over the cold metal, and the faint light from the moon made the metal gleam. Seto could feel a slight tremor shiver its way through Katsuya’s body, and all at once he had the urge to pull him a bit closer. As nice as that would be, they were there for a reason, so Seto swallowed that feeling and placed it at the back of his mind to think about (or freak out about) later. Once they passed the two security members standing guard by the elevator, Seto took them around the side edge of the dueling platform where he knew that the service elevator entrance was.

As the reached the platform, the member of the security team on guard, a tall, burly man by the name of Matsumoto, raised his head in surprise and a bit of wariness. “Kaiba-sama…what are you doing over here?”

“We need to get up on the field,” Katsuya cut in, stepping forward to confront the guard face to face. “Right now.”

Matsumoto placed himself protectively in front of the elevator buttons. “No,” he said, frowning. “I can’t allow anyone to disturb the duel.”

“S _eriously?!_ ” Katsuya yelled, “Do you even know whats going on-”

Seto stepped smoothly in front of the fuming blond, still gripping his wrist, but now in an effort to calm him down. Normally, Seto would agree with his security; duels shouldn’t be interrupted. But here he was, helping Jonouchi Katsuya onto the field for god knows what reasons. He schooled his face into the most authoritative sneer he could. Seto knew that that expression made him look like a grade A rich asshole, but that was kind of what he needed right now. The guard shrunk back as Seto loomed, and his eyes grew wide behind his tinted glasses as he finally noticed Seto’s hand on Katsuya’s arm.

“Do it, Matsumoto.”

“But! Kaiba-sama, you said yourself not to-“

“I said _do it_ , Matsumoto.”

The guard swallowed, weighing his options, before retreating off of the moving platform to let them use the elevator. “As you say, Kaiba-sama,” he said.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Seto clicked the little up arrow on the control panel and let go of Katsuya’s arm as the elevator whirred to life. His hand felt a bit cold, and Seto cursed himself for it. Before he could completely pull away though, Katsuya caught his hand in his own and pulled Seto a bit closer.

His hand was warm against Seto’s cold fingers. He could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears as Katsuya’s grip tightened and he leaned forward, head going utterly blank.

“Seto,” Katsuya said, and all Seto could see, all Seto could think about, was the brightness of his warm eyes. “Thank you.”

Seto swallowed thickly, and when he spoke his voice was hoarse, like he’d been running a marathon. “We’ll save her.”

Katsuya nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Seto’s own blue ones. There was an eerie silence as the lift continued slowly rising. If he stood on his tiptoes, (which he wouldn’t _ever_ do, if he wanted to keep the shreds of his dignity intact), Seto would probably be able to see the deck of the dueling stage, where Kujaku Mai and the leader of the Ghouls continued their deadly duel.

The thought of that particular brand of crazy gave Seto pause.

Why was he doing this?

As horrifying as this situation was, Seto knew deep down inside his cold little heart that if he was in his right mind he wouldn’t have thought twice about letting a duel like this continue. Hell, he’d sat through his own hellish duels with Mutou Yuugi, and witnessed some insane, impossible things in this tournament alone. Even Seto himself had done worse to other duelists during duels before. Sure, this was a particularly bad example, but not really threatening enough to make him fear for his own or Mokuba’s safety, which was his usual threshold for danger.

With Jonouchi Katsuya in the picture, it was beginning to seem as if his priorities had changed without Seto even realizing it.

Here he was, helping Katsuya break the rules of his _own_ Duel Monsters tournament to help one of his friends, almost all of whom Seto didn’t even _like_. It was mind boggling. It made Seto feel like he wasn’t himself anymore, that he was betraying everything he’d done to get to this point.

But…

Was that such a bad thing?

As Seto continued to look into Katsuya’s eyes, he realized that he _did_ give a shit about Katsuya’s friends, because _Katsuya_ cared. He was trusting Seto to run a tournament that wouldn’t hurt or severely maim the people he cared about, and Seto was beginning to see that he wanted to live up that expectation. Of course, Seto had his own reasons for throwing Battle City, but that didn’t mean he had to turn a blind eye to everything else. Mokuba may give him shit for it, but Seto was almost beyond caring.

The field was visible now, and Malik was still talking, though he seemed to be yelling more at Mutou Yuugi than the woman clenching her teeth in pain across from him. Interrupting this duel was going to be a delicate task. Maybe Seto could force a forfeit, as Kujaku clearly wasn’t going to win this one, not with the power of Ra on Malik’s side.

With a sudden sinking feeling, Seto realized that he’d forgotten one extremely important part of this harebrained plan.

What was _Katsuya_ planning to do?

The boy in question was glaring at the Rare Hunter on the field, hand still holding Seto’s with an iron grip. Abruptly Katsuya turned to face him.

“Seto,” he said, and his apologetic expression filled Seto with alarm. “I’m about to do somethin’ _really_ stupid.”

“W _hat-!”_ Seto began, but froze in his tracks as Katsuya leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek. As Seto stood there, gaping like a fish out of water, Katsuya released his hand and in one graceful motion vaulted over the railing and onto the field.

All Seto could do was stand there, a cold hand covering the spot where Katsuya’s lips had touched his face, and watch until he figured out how to make his legs work again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe


End file.
